Rao refuses to appear before IG Sindh

Rao Anwar, the former Malir SSP, under scrutiny over his alleged involvement in the extrajudicial killing of Waziristan native Naqeebullah Mehsud, failed to appear before Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khawaja and the National Commission for Human Rights on Monday.

A day earlier, a notification was issued by SP Investigation East, Abid Qaimkhani, summoning the beleaguered Anwar to appear before the IG and the Commission at 10:30am today.

High-ranking police officials had arrived at the Central Police Office and waited for Anwar and four other officials who had been summoned. However, the time given passed without any sign of Anwar or the other officials.

Anwar, referred to as the ‘encounter specialist’ by some, came under fire earlier this month after Mehsud, a 27-year-old hailing from South Waziristan, was killed in an ‘encounter‘ with a police team being headed by Anwar in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town area. Police had claimed Naqeebullah was affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — a claim vehemently denied by the deceased’s family and relatives.

The killing had triggered widespread uproar on social media after people close to Mehsud disputed the police claim, saying that the 27-year-old was a shop owner interested in modelling, and had no links with any militant organisation.